


Phone Calls

by writingramblr



Category: British Actor RPF, Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Insanity, Kissing, Suggestive Themes, billie and chris being overly affectionate, from bts footage, unfortunately fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2578274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingramblr/pseuds/writingramblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That's not how it starts, but it's how it ends.</p><p>Billie Piper has accidentally made Christopher fall in love with her.</p><p>But how hard is it to love the most lovable creature in British television?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phone Calls

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by bloody behind the scenes footage of Billie and Chris holding hands while watching playback footage.  
> ridiculous me.  
> lots of run on sentences and weird tenses.  
> this ship is going to kill me.

They're supposed to be watching playback of the scene they just shot, where he takes her hand and says run.

But he can hardly be expected to focus when she's leaning on his arm, still holding his hand tightly in her own, and he doesn't know better but he'd swear she was smiling.

Beaming at the pair of them onscreen.

Meanwhile he's trying to be calm, cool and collected and keep a straight face.

Beautiful young blonde Billie Piper is driving him bats.

He'd laugh aloud if he could.

They've only filmed a couple episodes and already he's half mad and fancying himself interested in her.

But it's just a part.

Only a show.

None of it’s real.

Not even when the cameras stop.

Then they're running again, and they separate as they go off camera. He reaches for her but finds empty air.

She's already sprinting for the start mark.

Stupid old man.

Keep up.

Over the weeks, the lines between character and acting and how he's starting to feel begin to blur.

It isn't until he starts dancing with her between takes, only for fun, since they've finished the Doctor Dances sequence that he realizes it.

He's gone.

Head over heels.

The way she smiles at him.

He almost hopes.

She reaches for his hand, and they're watching another scene playback.

The amount of touching they do that's unscripted has started to scare him.

He loves it and hates it.

The shows done, it's wrapped and he's going to be replaced with a young handsome witty skinny bloke from Scotland.

But before he decides to drown himself in whiskey and rum and all he can reach, his phones ringing.

The ringtone is her voice.

He's not ashamed.

He listened to every song before finding the perfect anthem for his miserable damnation.

Day and night.

Before she gets a whole verse out, he finally finds the blasted thing and flips it open,

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me...Billie."

"Ah. Hello." As if he didn't know.

"You alright? You sound a bit out of it...oh god, did I wake you up?"

He looks over to his bedside clock, and it's half past eight. She does think him an old man.

"Nah. Just about to have a drink. What's up?"

"Oh I um just wanted to thank you."

He frowns,

"For what?"

He imagines she's shrugging on the other end of the line,

"For being so helpful. I don't think I'd be half the companion I am if I didn't have all your pointers."

Then she laughs and he's gone.

Might as well drink the bottle now.

Forget about ever hearing her voice again.

"Yeah no sure. Anything I can do to help the next generation."

There you go, put her in her place, remind her of the insane age gap. Well, it's not 900 years but it could be better.

"Don't talk like that. Snot like you're about to retire Chris."

She says his name and it's almost a sin.

He's not going to retire, ever, if it means she'll think of him like her hero.

"You're right. So anything else? Or was this purely a social call?"

He's trying to be subtle, wrap things up, for now he knows after the bottle it's going to be either a cold shower or a warm one followed by the spending of his pride.

"Um actually I wondered if you wanted to come down to set and wait for me to finish. We could get chips, like Rose and the Doctor should have. Shame we couldn't shoot that."

Chris is scratching his head, doesn't she understand he's practically persona non grata?

"Maybe we should just meet at the chippy. I don't want to distract you."

He's pinching his temples and wondering what the he'll his brain was thinking and she giggles again,

"Oh? You're planning on doing something to distract me? Okay. If you like. Do you want to meet for sure, or can I just bring the food over?"

She doesn't know where he lives, does she? He's getting old because he can't remember if he told her or not.

"Chris? You there?"

He coughs,

"Yeah of course. That's probably better. Don't want the paps getting the wrong idea."

Billie's laugh fills his ears again, and he wishes he could bottle that sound,

"Heavens no. I think they snapped me smoking the other day, couldn't get much worse than cheating on my new Doctor. I was desperate though. He makes me so nervous."

Chris frowns, damn paps dead set on insisting Billie was still a wild child.

"Nervous? Because he's so handsome?"

His best poke at a tease, and she doesn't bite,

"Maybe. But he's like it with everyone. I'm not sure if he likes working with me as the Doctor, or because I'm well...pretty."

Chris was prepared to argue that the Scottish bloke was half as pretty as she was, but her own description of herself was woefully inaccurate.

"Billie, you're not pretty. You're bloody gorgeous. If he says otherwise, I'll break every rule and contract and come down there myself."

A soft sigh whispers through the line, and his heart might have skipped a beat,

"Really? You think I'm gorgeous?"

He's embarrassed it slipped out, but he meant it.

"Yeah of course."

"Not for a human though right?"

Bloody hell that line. Chris ground his teeth having to say it.

"Pretty sure I'm human too Billie."

"So chips?"

Her conversation change would give any other man whiplash,

"Yep."

"What time is good for you?"

"Anytime after 7."

"Great."

Another giggle, and his hand tightens on the bottle,

"Well goodnight Billie."

"Night Chris. See ya tomorrow."

She hangs up promptly, and he can scarcely believe his luck. So much so that he drowns in the bottle anyway.

He's pretty sure he imagined the whole thing anyway.

When the softest knock sounds on his door at half past seven, he's long been sober enough and he pulls open the door to find a smiling pop princess holding a paper bag that's clearly greasy beyond imagination.

"Hi."

"You're real."

He breathes out before he can stop himself, and she nods.

"Course I am. Can I come in?"

Wordlessly he steps aside, and she suddenly becomes just Billie.

Not Rose off-screen, not the sultry goddess from her music videos, just the girl he fancies himself in love with.

So much it hurts.

When he braves the question and asks about work, she makes a face.

They split a bottle of wine, he can't remember which color.

But when he dares to move in and break all the rules, her kiss tastes like salt from the chips, not the bittersweet fruity wine.

She's filming the next morning, she says, otherwise she would have stayed the night She promises. He doesn't care.

He's just glad she let him kiss her once, no cameras, no gimmicks, just cause he wanted to.

"Night Chris."

She says with a whisper, and he can only wave as he watches her go.

The golden goddess off into the night. He's still scared it was a fever dream, if not for the two wine glasses and two empty bottles.

Then his phone rings the next afternoon and it's her.

"We should do that again."

He's scared to ask for clarification so he just says yeah.

"The kiss I mean. Dinner was good too, but wow. You are an amazing kisser Chris."

He swallows and suddenly wonders if there's a God. Only god performs miracles right?

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Billie, are you sure?"

"Don't ask stupid questions Chris. I'll be there at eight tonight, and I don't have filming tomorrow. So I could stay...if you want?"

If he wants, IF he wants?

She's an angel.

"Yeah."

"See you tonight."

"Bye."

His heart races and his palms sweat and he's really doing this.

Starting something with Billie Piper, whom he thought was done with him.

Moved on, changed men.

She saw something in him, and he supposed it was worth keeping him around. Not that he'd ever admit he was eternally grateful she'd not clicked yet with her Scottish bloke.

He was afraid of that day coming soon enough.

There was no more booze in his flat. He had time to shop before she'd arrive. Date number two with Billie would need something special.

Was it a date?

Was it two friends hanging?

He was too old for this nonsense.

***

**End**


End file.
